


the closest thing

by daisylincs



Series: Agents of Birthdays [15]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Agents of Birthdays, Amusement Parks, Canon Compliant, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Feels, Gift Fic, Happy Birthday ryder616!!, In-between episodes, Set Between S03E15 and S03E16, Skye | Daisy Johnson Deserves A Break, Skye | Daisy Johnson Needs a Hug, birthday fic, missing moment, so Philinda gives her one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:02:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27993462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daisylincs/pseuds/daisylincs
Summary: A mission with Coulson and May takes an unexpected turn when Daisy finds out that a) they tricked her into taking a day off and going to an amusement park, and b) everybody at said amusement park seems to think they're a family.
Relationships: Phil Coulson & Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson
Series: Agents of Birthdays [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1886911
Comments: 12
Kudos: 84





	the closest thing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ryder616](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryder616/gifts).



> Dear @ryder616,
> 
> Happy, happy birthday! I hope you have an absolutely _marvellous_ (ahahaha, oh my gosh, I just could _not_ resist that pun) day, and, the way everyone always says on birthdays, a lovely next year! Seriously, though - I hope it _is_ fab for you, and goodness knows it can't be much crazier than the one we've just had 🤣😅. Though... oops, maybe saying that is tempting fate, I TAKE IT BACK!! Let's just leave it at "I hope your 2021 is absolutely lovely" - and I really do hope it is that.
> 
> Because, while you and I might not know each other very personally, here's the thing: I _do_ know of you, and appreciate you very much, at that! See, I started watching AoS in the beginning of lockdown (which, when I think about it, is more than eight months ago now, AHHHHH, I can't believe that at all! Insane how the time has flown by, really insane.) Anyway, yeah, I started watching AoS in March, and at some point - I think it was mid-season 2 after the Terrigenesis scene, actually - I just really desperately needed to see that someone else had FREAKED OUT as much as I did.
> 
> And so entirely by accident - though, what a very happy accident! - I found your blog, and the _#aosrewatch_ you were doing before season 7. And I was just... wow. You noted down all the little things I'd enjoyed about each episode, listed off all my favourite lines (with fab commentary!) and then gave insights that first made me gasp in awe, then nod, then smile very much indeed.
> 
> Soon enough, it became a little tradition of mine - watching an episode, then finding your rewatch/review of it to sigh happily over afterwards. This _was_ in the time before I got an official Tumblr account, though, lol, and goodness knows I was too internet-shy back then to try and tell you 🤣🙈 But now you know! _And_ now you get a little fic-present, which doubles as my official thank-you to you for those lovely review times.
> 
> On that note, and to conclude my rambles so far: you requested me Daisy/Happiness, and to follow in that vein, my wish for you for the next year is, quite simply but quite succinctly, _ryder616/Happiness!_ Once again, all the best 🥰

Daisy hit the punching bag with as much force as she could muster, watching it judder and shake and, when it failed to move as far or as forcefully as she wanted, held out one palm and quaked it viciously. The bag blew clean off its fastenings, shooting in a jagged arc across the gym to land with a loud _crash_ in the opposite wall. 

A second later, a wide-eyed trainee agent came rushing past Daisy, half-sprinting to get to the door and adding an almost comical burst of speed when he passed her. 

Daisy winced, feeling almost guilty for a second - she was sure Coulson wouldn't want her terrifying the newbies. 

But barely a breath later, her grim, harsh mood of the last few days slid back into place, and she crossed the room with deliberately loud, sharp steps. Stopping in front of another punching bag, she pivoted and leapt up into the air, using her powers to augment her jump before kicking out viciously with one foot. 

The bag swung almost a full arc from the force of her blow, nearly knocking her over as it returned to its original position, but she quaked it away from her body and across the hail without so much as shifting her stance. 

A bitter taste filled her mouth as she watched it smack satisfyingly into the wall. _Now_ she could strike with deadly force and accuracy, but when it had really mattered, when a man's life had been at stake - 

She kept seeing the swirls of ash and fiery sparks, and the red haze in the air as Charles Hinton had held out his hand to her, a tiny wooden robin resting on his palm. 

The little bird had clattered to the floor, and Daisy hadn't even been able to pick herself up enough to retrieve it. 

She had failed, completely and utterly. She hadn't saved him, _he_ had saved _her_. 

And because of it - because of _her_ \- another little girl would grow up never knowing her father. 

A rush of fury rose inside her, fury and _hatred,_ both aimed directly at herself. 

This was on _her_. This little girl's loss - this loss that could never be filled, no matter what - it was on her. Her fault. _Hers._

Because she knew all too well what it was like to grow up without a father, didn't she? Hell, she knew what it was like to grow up with no parents at all. She knew better than anyone that there was no filling that gap, not really. 

So the thought that she had subjected another little girl to this, to this pain and loss and _emptiness,_ that it was her fault, that she was responsible - 

"Daisy," came May's voice from the door, and Daisy turned to see her former SO standing there, arms crossed and expression as unreadable as ever. Her gaze ran over the pile of quaked punching bags on the other side of the room, but, to Daisy's relief, she didn't say anything. 

"Come on," she said instead, simply. "Coulson wants you." 

Daisy glanced at the pile of punching bags, bit her lip, then shrugged and started to unwrap her hands. She joined May at the door a moment later, the two of them falling comfortably into step as they set off for Coulson's office. "Do you know what Coulson wants?" Daisy asked as they walked, brushing a streak of sweat-dampened hair out of her face. 

May shrugged, but something about the slight twist of her mouth signified disapproval. Daisy came to a stop in the middle of the hallway, raising her eyebrows. 

"You'll find out soon enough," May said, brushing past her to open Coulson's door with a simple, "We're here." 

"Thanks, May," Coulson said with a small smile, which May did not return - if anything, Daisy thought with a hint of amusement, she looked even more disapproving and unimpressed. 

"Daisy, we have a mission for you," Coulson said, indicating with a quick nod that she should sit down. 

"We?" she echoed, raising her eyebrows. 

May snorted, folding her arms. "I've been coerced into going along, yes." 

"We need someone to do damage control," Coulson pointed out mildly. "If it's just me and Daisy, like you pointed out at length last night, all hell will break loose, and we won't have anyone to drag our asses out of it." 

That _did_ sound like something May would say, but at that moment, Daisy was far more interested in the _other_ part of what Coulson had just said. 

"Wait, AC, you're coming along?" she asked, her eyebrows feeling like they were trying to climb off her forehead. 

May pulled a face Daisy could've sworn was almost a grimace. "He is." 

Daisy looked from Coulson to May and back again, trying to figure out what _the hell_ was going on. _"Coulson_ is coming?" she repeated, more than a little disbelievingly. "What kind of crazy mission is this, anyway?" 

May, Daisy thought, was _definitely_ grimacing now. "You'll see when we get there." 

//

"There"turned out to be, of _all_ things, a giant amusement park. Yes, really - an _amusement park_. 

Daisy gaped unashamedly at the sign above the entryway as she, Coulson and May walked towards it. "I thought you said this was a mission?" she hissed, glancing around them at the crowds of excited adventure-goers. "Is there an 084 in there, or something?" 

Coulson and May exchanged one of their wordless conversations in a glance, and if Daisy had to take a guess as to what May's superbly unimpressed eyebrow raise meant, she'd go for something like _you created this mess, you deal with it._

Coulson seemed to come to the same conclusion, wincing before turning to Daisy. She didn't miss the way his gaze softened as he looked at her. 

"There isn't an 084," he said gently. 

Daisy still wasn't following. "So, are we meeting a high-risk contact in the middle of the park?" she pressed. "Because if so, it's a strategically bad choice, there are too many people who could be potential witnesses, or worse, potential enemies. And -" 

Coulson placed his hands on her shoulders, effectively cutting off her rambling, and met her gaze with warm blue eyes. _"Daisy,"_ he said, voice gentle but firm. "There isn't a contact, or anything else. This isn't a mission." 

Daisy was sure she had to be understanding him wrong. "Not a mission?" she spluttered. "So do you mean to tell me you brought me out here for no reason at all?"

May spoke up for the first time since they had arrived at the amusement park. "Not no reason." 

Daisy started to shake her head, but then her eyes widened as she understood. "Oh, _no,"_ she said, backing away a step. "No. No way. You can't be serious." 

May's utterly dry, deadpan expression was all the confirmation Daisy needed that she _was,_ in fact, serious. 

"Oh my _God,"_ she said, looking between Coulson and May with a jaw that was slowly dropping lower and lower in the general direction of the floor. "You guys really just tricked me into spending the day at an _amusement park."_

It wasn't a question, but Coulson nodded anyway, wincing slightly. "Is that bad?" he asked. 

Daisy threw up her hands. "Are you crazy? Of course it's bad! Malick's out there with a reinforced suit, there's an undead Ward walking around, Charles Hinton just _died_ \- there's so much I need to _do,_ I can't -"

"And that's why we did it," Coulson said, cutting into her rant and looking at her with eyes that were full of amusement but _also,_ significantly, compassion and concern. "You've been working yourself to the bone lately, Daisy," he said gently. 

"Not to mention scaring away half our new recruits," May added pointedly. 

Coulson nodded. "Exactly. You won't let yourself take a break, at all, not for anything." 

"And you _knew_ that," she said, pointing at him with an accusing finger. "You _knew_ I'd never come out with you unless it was for a mission, and you used that to your advantage -" 

"Because we care," May said, the interruption so unexpected and powerful that it silenced Daisy completely. 

"We care," May repeated, holding Daisy's gaze with a fierce kind of intensity. "It isn't easy to show in our line of work, at all, but we _do."_

As May spoke, what had started out as righteous fury for Daisy melted away to be replaced by something much softer. _Warmer._ She opened her mouth to reply - but Coulson and May weren’t finished yet.

“We care,” Coulson repeated May’s words, as though doubly emphasizing their meaning. "We don't want to watch you burn yourself out. And if you won’t take a break for yourself, well..." 

“You’ll trick me into coming to an amusement park?” Daisy finished for him. Her resolve to turn and head straight back to the cloaked quinjet was thinning fast, but she folded her arms and maintained a scowl in some attempt to hide it. 

Coulson, however, didn’t look even so much as faintly apologetic. “That’s it,” he agreed, and then he had the nerve to _smile_ at her. 

Daisy’s jaw dropped again for the second time in as many minutes, but before she could properly express her indignation, one of the park’s attendants crossed over to them, shading her eyes from the sun with one hand and offering them a bright smile. “Welcome to the Six Flags Magic Mountain,” she said, her cheeks dimpling with genuine happiness despite the utter ridiculousness of that name. “Are you guys here for a family day out?” 

Daisy choked on air, spluttering hard, and May leaned over and thumped her back solidly while still managing to glare at the poor attendant.

“It’s… not like that, actually,” Coulson explained while Daisy was trying to catch her breath. 

“Oh, um, no,” Daisy seconded when she had recovered some semblance of composure. 

“No,” May agreed too from behind her, folding her arms.

“We just work together,” Coulson explained with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. 

The attendant looked between them, from Coulson to Daisy to May, and bit her lip, her own sunny smile fading somewhat. “Oh, I _am_ sorry,” she said, still with that little crease in her brow. “I could have sworn -” 

But then she shook her head, the smile returning full force. “Welcome to Six Flags regardless!” 

They all thanked her, but there was no denying the sudden and stifling awkwardness that had fallen over them as they walked up to the entry gates. Normally, things were very easy between the three of them - they knew they could trust each other, that they had one another’s backs, and that they could rely on each other to finish their respective missions, and finish them well. They also knew they could return to brusque but compassionate check-ins, patch-ups together amidst sarcastic retellings of said missions, and laughter, companionship and a feeling of _home_ throughout. 

But now… _now._

Daisy’s brain had gone into hyperdrive, and she kept repeating the young attendant’s words - _family day out._

Half-hysterically, she supposed they fit the parts, physically at least - Coulson and May just the right age to have a daughter about as old as she was, if they had gotten married young, and she herself a near-perfect mix of the two of them at a quick glance. 

_God._

But physically and emotionally were two such _completely different things,_ and she would _never_ dare presume anything _remotely_ of the sort. Because, yes, Coulson and May had said they cared - but there was a _huge_ difference between caring about a co-worker, and a co-worker's health (especially if said co-worker was a SHIELD agent who was called on to save the world on a regular basis and needed to be in top shape) and caring about a _family member._

There was no comparison - and Daisy knew _exactly_ where she belonged, regardless of the surge of warmth that had flooded through her body at their words earlier. 

_Besides,_ she thought, adding another mark to her mental checklist, _they were both_ so quick _to deny it to that attendant…_

Neither of them had hesitated, even for a second. 

And that was _fine._ It was more than fine. Co-worker caring, right? No problem, not for any of them! 

_She_ definitely wouldn't make it one, at least. 

They could just forget this had ever happened, Daisy reasoned, stepping a little closer to May and knocking her hip into her SO's the way she sometimes did to relax herself before a tense mission, teasing the fact that May wasn't wearing a gun holster.

It wasn't like it would be hard. 

//

Nearly three full years of being an agent of SHIELD - Daisy really, really should have known better than to even _think_ that. Because the moment you thought something like that… 

"Can I bump you through on the family special?" the man selling the tickets asked, tapping at his computer and glancing up to flash them a polite smile. 

Daisy choked on air for the second time in as many minutes, and the ticket guy looked on in confusion, his eyebrows knitting together. 

"No, no," she said, gathering her wits (and her breath) as quickly as she could so she could explain before May or Coulson had to. "It's not like that, we're not actually related -" 

The ticket guy had almost the exact same reaction as his predecessor, his eyes widening and his smile fading awkwardly. The little raise of his eyebrows seemed to say, are you _sure?_

As though Daisy wasn't. 

"We're not a family," she pressed when the ticket guy continued to give her a dumbfounded goldfish look. 

He shook himself, tapping at his computer again and double-checking the special. "Well, uh, I think you'll want the deal regardless," he said, with remarkable composure for someone whose ears had gone a rather spectacular shade of fire-engine red. "Three tickets for the price of two on a group card?" 

Coulson and May exchanged glances, and, though she studiously avoided either of their gazes, Daisy had to admit that the deal wasn't bad at all. 

Far from it, actually. 

So she bit the inside of her cheek as Coulson bought them the special, and tried her very hardest to keep her cool as the little bracelet with _Family Coupon_ stamped on it was fastened around her wrist. 

Family. 

Family, family, _family._

The one thing she had always craved, but never been able to have. 

_This isn't that, though,_ she reminded herself forcefully, turning the entry bracelet so that only _Coupon_ was visible in her direct line of sight. _This is just your_ co-workers _being smart and using a good deal when it's offered._

Besides, Coulson was smiling at her from the entry gate, his blue eyes sparkling with eager excitement. Even _May_ was smiling, much smaller than Coulson's grin, it had to be noted, but definitely still a smile, and full of understated but sincere warmth. 

It was impossible to stay melancholy at _all_ when they were both smiling at her like that, and Daisy felt a bounce in her step for the first time since Charles Hinton, and a small, affectionate and _happy_ smile on her lips as she crossed over to join them at the entry gates. 

Unconventional as the method of getting here, and unusual as the start so far had been - she was convinced that this was going to be a great day. 

//

She would never _admit_ that thought aloud, though, not even when they had just gotten off their first rollercoaster - a much, _much_ stronger one than they had thought - and were laughing hysterically as they clung to each other, desperately trying to stay upright among waves and waves of dizziness and yet more laughter. 

It hadn't even been a particularly _funny_ ride - but the _face_ Coulson had made when his seat suddenly began to whirl around at an extremely high velocity - all shocked-Pikachu, oh my God what is _happening_ please help - and then the face he had made when he had gotten _off,_ eyes even wider than when they had started to spin, and his jaw looking like it might have permanently attached to the floor - well, those expressions had been the funniest thing Daisy had seen in a long time. 

Even _May_ had agreed, and while she wasn't quite _laughing,_ she hadn't stopped grinning either, and Daisy could swear that she - Melinda May, The Cavalry and officially the most badass agent of SHIELD - was _dizzy._

Daisy's feet almost failed her at the utter absurdity and _hilarity_ of that thought, but luckily Coulson was there, catching her with a remarkably steady hand on her shoulder. 

"Thanks, AC," she said, and he smiled down at her, his blue eyes soft. 

"So do you still think coming here was a mistake?" he asked wryly. 

Daisy put her hands on her hips, nearly losing her balance again as the movement threw off Coulson's hand. She bit her lip, trying desperately to stop her giggles. _"Well…"_ she said, drawing out the syllable dramatically. 

This time it was May who steadied her with a hand on her back, and Coulson, who hadn't even needed to wonder if May would be there, pressed right on with his questioning. 

"Come _on,_ Daisy Johnson," he said, smirking at her. "You _know_ you've been overworking lately, and being unrealistic, and -" 

"Snappish," May supplied, tapping her fingers once against Daisy's back. 

"Snappish," Coulson agreed with an emphatic nod. "And also way, way too hard on yourself." He took a quick breath, holding her gaze unwaveringly. "You needed a _break,_ Daisy. Come on, _admit it."_

It had to be the dizziness, and the traces of boundless laughter still floating in her system - it _had_ to be. She was blaming those things, one hundred percent. 

It might also have had something to do with the way May hadn't moved her arm yet, her hand steady on Daisy's back, and her body right behind Daisy's the way she used to stand when she was teaching her her fighting stances a year ago. 

Daisy felt remarkably safe like that - safe and secure, like there was someone she could _always_ trust holding her up and standing behind her, both in the literal and figurative senses of the meaning. 

It could also have been a little something about the _warmth_ in Coulson's gaze as he looked at her, and them - but whatever the cause, Daisy have a long, dramatic groan and said, with _extremely_ exaggerated grudging - _"Fine,_ you were right to come here." 

May nudged her back lightly with the flat of her hand, and Daisy was taken vividly back to her training again. Whenever Skye's attention had wandered, May would pull her back to reality with one gentle but firm push to the centre of her back. 

Now, Daisy sighed deeply, rolling her eyes hugely before declaring in a dramatic voice, _"and,_ you were right, I needed a break." 

Because the truth was… much as she hated to admit it, she already felt so much better, so much _lighter,_ since she had given her mind a moment to stop worrying and blaming herself for a little while. 

It felt really good, actually - _really_ good. So yes, _fine,_ Coulson had a point about the whole break thing. 

She flashed him a smile, and, try as she might, she couldn't put any real grudging behind it. 

That was when she heard a shutter click. 

They all spun around at the same time, Daisy's hand going instinctively to her hip to reach for the gun there - before she remembered, damnit, that it wouldn't _be_ there. 

May and Coulson, it seemed, had had nearly identical reactions and thought processes - but, as it turned out, these were _completely_ wrong. 

Standing in front of them was a tiny old lady holding one of those old-fashioned cameras that still printed the photos right after taking them - which was what it was doing now. The old lady held out her hand to catch it, before glancing up to smile at them over small, moon-shaped spectacles. 

She looked, Daisy thought with an instant rush of _awwwwwwww,_ like the human version of the world's softest hug - she was wearing a white shirt covered in a light blue, fluffy cardigan, her curly white hair looped up in a loose bun and held in place with a blue pencil, and a smile that could have melted the heart of a _stone._

"Here you go," she said, holding out the neatly printed photo to them, her cheeks dimpling as she smiled and her blue eyes bright behind her moon glasses. "You're just such a sweet family, I couldn't resist." 

Daisy's heart froze. "Oh, um," she stuttered, not sure how to say anything without hurting the old lady's feelings. 

Beside her, Coulson and May seemed to be in a similar position. "Well, uh, you see -" Coulson began, then cut himself off, wincing. 

"We're not -" May began, but Coulson nudged her surreptitiously with an elbow before she could finish that thought. 

May shot him a look right back - something along the lines of, _I'm not stupid, Phil,_ if Daisy had to guess - but she didn't say anything further, either. 

The old lady's gaze filled with dismay. "Oh, I am _so_ sorry if I've offended you," she said, her eyes widening and her whole demeanor turning into one of such abject _dismay_ that Daisy wanted to go hug her immediately.

"I know some people don't like having their photos taken, and it was terribly rude of me, and I should have asked beforehand -" she wrung her hands as she spoke, her blue eyes full of guilt behind her glasses. "It was just such a lovely moment just then, and I didn't want to lose it. Oh, I'm _so_ sorry." 

"That's completely okay," Daisy blurted before she had the time to think it through herself. She stepped forward and took the photo from the old lady's outstretched hand, holding her blue gaze for a long moment. 

"Really," she said, and from this close she could _smell_ the old lady's sweetness too, something that was a dreamy mixture of lavender and the seaside. "Thank you so much." 

The old lady smiled at her, and there was so much _warmth_ there, so much compassion, that Daisy's heart completely melted. 

"It was my pleasure," she said, and Daisy returned her smile before dipping her gaze down to the photograph in her palm. 

Her breath caught in her throat. 

It was in black and white, but it had managed to capture the moment between them to perfection - Daisy with her head tipped back in a dramatic groan, but grinning with pure and sweet _joy_ like she didn't have another care in the world; like there wasn't a single weight on her back, just _happiness,_ for one blissful moment in time. 

May had her hand lightly on Daisy's back, and she was looking down at her with an expression of affectionate pride that Daisy had never seen on her before - or, at least, never to this extent. It looked almost… maternal. 

Coulson was watching them both with a small smile playing on his lips, a smile that said, _right here, right now, there's nowhere else I'd rather be._

All in all, it was an _incredibly_ special photo, and Daisy's fingers shook a little as she traced all their faces. 

She wanted to keep it, keep it close to her, more than anything - but _could_ she? 

Close as they were, they were _not_ a family, which was the spirit in which the photo had been taken. So could she really… _justify_ keeping it? 

She knew she couldn't, not really. But, oh, the thought of crumpling up the photo and tossing it in the bin, when every Polaroid pixel of it spoke of pure love… 

As though he was reading her mind, Coulson leaned forward and closed her fingers gently but firmly around the photograph, careful not to tear the edges. 

He didn't say anything, but the message was clear: _keep it._

Daisy bit her lip, hard, a flood of emotion rising up in her chest. The fact that he could read her like that, that he _understood…_ and, of course, the fact that he was encouraging her to _keep_ this unbelievably special photograph… it meant a _lot._

 _Anyway,_ she reasoned, encouraged by the soft look in Coulson's blue eyes, _who ever said that coworkers couldn't have special moments?_

She smiled at him, more genuinely touched and fond than she had felt in weeks, and carefully tucked the photo into the lining of her jacket, right next to her heart. 

//

None of them spoke much after the Photo Incident, letting wild grins and the occasional shriek on rollercoasters do the talking for them - because, _damn,_ this park was spectacular. But the silence that had settled between them was anything _but_ awkward - in fact, it was one of the most comfortable feelings Daisy had ever experienced. 

She felt like something had _shifted_ between them, like they had come to a sort of understanding. 

What it was, she couldn't be sure, but it felt _good._

She was still deep in thought as she stood in the queue to get them corndogs, May one food truck over for drinks and Coulson trying to find them a table amongst the mess of trees and hungry adventure-goers. 

A small voice from behind her caught her attention, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Excuse me, miss," it said, and Daisy turned around to see a little girl of no more than four or five years old standing in the queue behind her, clad in a jumper that looked exactly like the one Ginny Weasley had worn in the first movie. This impression was reinforced by the _red_ of the girl's frizzy hair, framing her small face in messy curls.

Daisy's heart twinged slightly at her age - _Robin -_ but she pushed it away, bending down so she was eye level with the girl. "Hullo," she said with her friendliest, most open smile. "Can I help you?" 

The little girl pointed up at the blackboard the different types of corndogs were scribbled on, furrowing her brow. "What is jaa-la-pen-squiggle-no?" 

Daisy bit her lip to keep from grinning at the pronunciation, instead pointing at the indicated item on the menu, too. "Jalapeño?" 

The girl gave an exasperated sigh. "No, not _gallypenny-oh,"_ she said wearily, as though _Daisy_ was the four-year-old here. "Jaa-la-pen-squiggle-no." 

"Ah yes," Daisy agreed, nodding solemnly. "Jaa-la-pen-squiggle-no." 

"Now you've got it," the girl said approvingly. "So what is it?" 

Daisy considered her for a moment. "Do you know what _chillies_ are?" she asked after thinking about it for a second. 

The little girl nodded, her red head bobbing eagerly. "Oh, yes, Mommy loves to put them in her soup, but," she leaned forward confidingly, as though she was about to tell a great secret, "Dada says they _burn."_

Daisy really had to fight the battle with her laughter now, but she managed to win out, giving another solemn nod. "Dada is right," she told the little girl. "Chillies burn. And jalapeñ - I mean, jaa-la-pen-squiggle-nos - are the same." 

"Ohhh," the girl said, nodding wisely. Her expression shifted immediately into a sunny smile, and she beamed at Daisy. "Thank you so much, lady!"

"No problem," Daisy replied with a smile of her own. "Happy to help. By the way - where's Dada?" 

"Getting slushies," the girl said, pointing proudly at the drinks truck. It took Daisy a moment to catch on _\- slush puppies_ \- but when she did, she smiled encouragingly. 

"That's really nice," she said, straightening and starting to get to her feet. "I hope you enjoy those!" 

But the little girl wasn't finished with her yet. "Are _your_ Mommy and Dada here?" she asked. 

It was such an innocent question, and it was _indisputably_ clear in the little girl's wide, curious brown eyes that she hadn't meant it in a bad way at _all._

But still… Daisy's insides twisted into knots, and an uncomfortably chilly feeling settled in her chest. "I, uh," she said, feeling suddenly very distant, very far away from this conversation. 

Very luckily for her, at that moment, someone in the drinks line shoved someone else too hard, and it turned into a domino reaction of shoves until the poor person in front nearly dropped his slush puppies. 

He managed to catch the one, but the other… 

Faster than any non-SHIELD-specialist could ever have reacted, though, May was there, leaping low and catching the drink with one hand before pivoting smoothly on her foot, straightening and handing the drink to its awed owner. 

"Th…thanks," the man stuttered, gaping at May in awe. Then, apparently unable to help himself, he started to applaud - and, half a second later, the entire cafeteria area had joined in. 

Daisy couldn't help her proud grin at the sight, and noticing this, the little girl tapped her knee. "Is that your Mommy?" 

"Uh -" Daisy had no idea what she was supposed to say to that. To her relief, though, the man whose drink May had saved caught sight of the girl, and, shaking his head with a half-exasperated, half-amused smile, beckoned her over to him. 

The little girl tapped Daisy's knee again, which she assumed meant goodbye, and possibly thank you too. 

"Your Mommy is _very_ cool," the little girl said before she went, And Daisy found herself short for air again. 

There were so many things she _could_ have said to that, so many things she _should_ have said - but this was a little girl, and she was smiling up at Daisy all hopefully and adorably, and there was no way she could _explain,_ or at least explain in a way that wouldn't wipe away that smile - 

So what came out of her mouth was, "thanks." 

And the little girl beamed. 

Daisy was dazed as she placed their corndog order and paid, her brain performing the tasks on autopilot - until she felt a familiar tap on her shoulder. 

She knew who it was without even turning around. "May." 

"Daisy," May confirmed, sliding comfortably into step next to her when she did turn. Her face and voice were carefully neutral, but there was something almost _chokingly_ emotional in her dark gaze. "I noticed that you… didn't correct that girl when she said I was your… mother." 

_Shit._

Daisy's heart twisted, then twisted again even more gutturally as she saw and fully processed the look in her former SO's eyes. 

_May. A little girl. Mom._

Of _course._

Muttering another quiet curse under her breath, Daisy stopped and spun to face May head-on. "May, shit, I am _so_ sorry, I didn't think, I just didn't know how to explain to her and… God, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it, I swear -"

"It's okay," May interrupted, her voice a little thicker than usual, as though she was speaking through a throat choked with emotion. "I didn't mind." 

Daisy's jaw dropped almost to the floor, both at the sheer amount of emotion in May's - _May's_ \- voice, and at her words. 

She didn't know what to say, and she didn't know how to say it. 

But, judging by the way she started walking again, deliberately quickening her step, neither did May. 

That was okay, though. The two of them had never communicated that much through words, anyway - they were all about trust, and mutual respect and understanding. 

Still - something very, _very_ significant had just been said, and Daisy did _not_ intend to forget it anytime soon. 

She touched the left breast of her leather jacket, feeling the faint press of a corner of the photograph beneath her fingers. 

No, not anytime soon. 

//

Coulson could tell something was up, Daisy knew he could - but he didn't press the issue, just shifting to to make room for them on the tiny bench he had found and dramatically bemoaning their lack of corndogs. 

"They're still _coming,"_ Daisy pointed out with no small amount of amusement. And, yes, she knew Coulson was doing this to diffuse the situation, tactful spy that he was - but she still appreciated the gesture. 

"Okay," Coulson said, drawing out the vowels dramatically and surreptitiously shooting her a tiny, conspiratorial smile. "But we'll need our strength for the Lex Luthor Drop of Doom." 

_That_ was certainly true - at 415 feet, the Drop of Doom was the tallest ride in the park, and by all accounts the most terrifying. It involved a ninety-second ride up to the top of Lex Luthor's tower where, while the fictional mastermind gave you some life advice, the car was suddenly released without any warming, dropping over forty stories at a staggering eighty-five miles per hour. 

Daisy couldn't _wait,_ and she said as much to May and Coulson as they were standing in line, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. 

Coulson gave her a _look._ "Big change from wanting to bite my head off for tricking you here, huh?" 

"Shut _up,"_ Daisy grumbled, shoving his shoulder, and she _may_ have added a small quake to throw him off balance properly. 

When he raised his eyebrows at her, though, she just smiled angelically, stepping forwards to the front of the queue. 

"Hi," she said, still feeling rather pleased with herself as she grinned at the ride attendant. 

He grinned back immediately. "Hi! Are you ready for the Drop of Doom?"

Daisy grinned wider. "Hell yes!" 

"And your parents?" he asked, quirking his eyebrows at May and Coulson, who had since come up behind Daisy. 

There was a moment of perfect silence in which Daisy waited, her heart beating in her throat, for either of them to say anything. 

_Beat._

_Beat._

The ride attendant's brow had just started to furrow when Daisy said, her grin softening into something that was downright _tender_ (though with a decent amount of amusement) - "Oh, they're a lot tougher than they look, trust me." 

Again, she waited for either of them to object, her breathing and the rushing of her blood loud in her ears - 

but - 

_nothing._

Daisy grinned, grinned like a giddy school-girl with a crush, grinned like she was on top of the whole damn world - and when she glanced over her shoulder at May and Coulson, she saw that they were both beaming, too. 

None of them screamed on the Drop of Doom. 

In fact, Daisy was sure they all just grinned the whole way through. 

//

The rest of the day passed in a blur of laughter, thrills, and increasingly family-esque behaviour on all of their parts - for example, May scolding Daisy and Coulson for sneaking extra chocolate sauce onto their ice-cream cones ("you already have _way_ too much sugar there"), and Coulson insisting on taking a cheesy photo of May and Daisy in the _#SixFlagsMagicMountain_ frame, with Lex Luthor's Drop in the background. 

Daisy, for her part, had never been happier to play along - and, as the hours ticked by, she found herself wishing that the day didn't have to end. 

Yes, she had been extremely reluctant to come here, to say the least. 

But when her day had started, she had had _no way_ of knowing what was going to come her way. 

She watched May and Coulson walking just ahead of her, bickering quietly about something or other she only half understood - she caught the words "Haig" and "open" and _"come on,"_ not that that made much sense - and felt her heart jump right up into her throat. 

This was so… so _perfect._

Everything she had ever wanted as a little girl, huddled under ratty blankets in a bed that had been too small for her for years - a set of parents who would take her out and treat her, the way all the kids at school's parents always did; take her to amusement parks and buy her corndogs and let her go on her favourite rides three times apiece. And they would do it all out of _love_. 

Well, now, for the very first time in her nearly-twenty-eight years, she _had_ that. 

Except… none of it was real; not really. 

She almost wanted to laugh at how _cruel_ it all was, how blatantly and unapologetically _unfair._ The universe really had it out for her, didn't it? Dangling everything she had ever wanted in front of her, _finally,_ after twenty-eight years - and then snatching it away just as it was in her grasp with a mocking little, _oh, you thought this was real? Well, you're spies! Wake up!_

She realised with a start that there were tears in her eyes, hot tears of pure frustration and helpless rage. Muttering a quick curse under her breath, she stopped and swiped them fiercely away, hoping to have them out the way before May and Coulson could see - 

But it was too late. 

They had come to a stop in the road in front of her, mirroring each other exactly in the fading light with folded arms and disapproving expressions. 

"What's wrong, Daisy?" Coulson asked gently, and Daisy realised that what she had initially interpreted as disapproval was quite the opposite - _concern._

She didn't know if that was better, or worse - so she smiled her way through it, the way she was all too good at doing. "Oh, nothing," she said breezily, waving a hand. "Just admiring the sunset." 

May gave her a flat look, and this time there was _really_ no misinterpreting how utterly unimpressed she looked. _"Daisy,"_ she said, in a tone that said all too clearly, _we know you better than that._

Daisy's lip wobbled, and she cursed herself with all the colourful phrases she had picked up over years and years of dealings with considerably less-than-savoury characters. "I'm so sorry," she said, and, _God,_ her eyes were filling with tears again, dangerously close to overflowing. "I just…" 

She took a deep breath, grasping the railing on the side of the path and closing her eyes to try and steady herself. 

This was _May and Coulson._ She couldn't lie to them; she never could. 

The thought brought her an odd amount of comfort, and, drawing in another deep breath, she opened her eyes. 

"Look," she said, proud when her voice barely caught on the syllable, "I… I know nothing we said to all those people today was really true, and we're not a real family, but…" She glanced up fractionally to meet Coulson's gaze, holding it steadily for a second before shifting to May. "It felt far, _far_ more real than anything I ever had with any foster family." 

Her eyes were burning again, but she did her best to ignore that as she pushed herself to go on - "And I just needed you guys to know that, even if… you don't say anything, or don't feel the same. It's fine." _It wasn't._ "I just needed you to know." 

Coulson took a step forward, and Daisy closed her eyes, bracing herself for the inevitable dismissal. 

He'd make it gentle, of course. And kind. He was _Coulson._

But it would still be that; a dismissal. 

Despite her best efforts, a single hot tear leaked past her eyelids, tracking a path down her cheek. 

Then she felt Coulson's hands on her shoulders. 

_"Daisy,"_ he said, and the tone of his voice had her eyes flying open immediately. 

His blue gaze found hers instantly, catching and holding them with an intensity that pinned her immovably in place. 

"It was real for us," he said, enunciating each syllable slowly and clearly so she couldn't _possibly_ misunderstand. 

Daisy's head was ringing, the words echoing and repeating in her mind like blows of a hammer against the walls she had so carefully put up over the years. 

_It was real for us._

_Real for us._

Real for us.

Off to her left, May released a shuddering sigh, and Daisy saw with a jolt that her former SO - always the pinnacle of stoicism - had a glint of tears in her eyes. 

"It _was_ real for us," she agreed quietly. "For us both. And I…" she paused to swallow, hard, before continuing. "That's something I never thought I'd get the chance to ever be. I thought I gave up the right to ever be a mother in a cold basement in Bahrain, but, Daisy -" there was no denying that there were tears in her eyes now "- I would be _proud_ to call myself your mother, in whatever crazy way we can manage it at SHIELD." 

Daisy was crying, too, her gaze blurring with tears and her heart overflowing with _emotions,_ so many emotions that she had never dared to let herself feel before. Overcome, she crossed the distance between herself and her former SO in three quick strides, pulling her into a tight hug and burying her head in May's leather jacket. 

May held her tightly, her breathing still ragged - and, after a lingering moment, Coulson came and joined them too, clasping Daisy's hand on May's back. 

Daisy closed her eyes, feeling more tears spill onto May's leather jacket - but they were tears of pure and overwhelming _happiness_ this time, and she was smiling right through them. 

And she thought - she had been wrong earlier that day, completely wrong. 

It _was_ possible to fill that emptiness. 

_**The End.** _


End file.
